Draw-type lottery games are well known wherein players select (or are randomly assigned) a set of player indicia from a field of indicia. For example, POWERBALL is a popular multi-state game wherein players select five numbers from the field of numbers 1 through 59 (“5/59” draw), and 1 number from a field of numbers 1 through 39 (“1/39” draw). At a subsequent drawing conducted by the lottery authority, five numbers are randomly generated from the field of fifty-nine numbers, and one number is randomly generated from the field of thirty-nine numbers. A win is determined for the player by matching one of nine possible match combinations. Various “pick-3”, “pick-4”, and other types of draw games are also well known.
With the typical draw-type games, a defined subset of indicia is randomly generated by the lottery from the field of indicia, and a win is determined by players simply comparing their selected player indicia to the randomly drawn lottery indicia, with the prize typically determined as a function of the number of matches. In certain games, the order of the matches may also be considered in the prize determination. A disadvantage of these conventional draw-type games is that the randomly generated set of lottery indicia has the same value to all players and is limited to use for one type of game. For example, the random generation of numbers in the 5/59 POWERBALL game applies only to a particular POWERBALL game. States or other jurisdictions often host a number of different types of draw games, with each such game requiring its own random draw event. This adds to the complexity and expense of the individual games.
In addition, the conventional random draw events are limited in their versatility and ability to generate additional excitement and interest in the game. For example, with the conventional POWERBALL game, the 5/59 draw generates the same five numbers for all players. Once the draw is conducted, all that remains is to compare the player's numbers to the drawn numbers to determine whether or not a particular ticket is a winner.
The lottery industry would benefit from a method and related system that increases the versatility and utility of the draw event beyond application to only one particular game that simply generates the same set of indicia for all players in the same game. The present invention provides just such a method and related system.